WASHINGTON, D.C. - The president of a committee for the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Sept. 24 released a decision denying a request made by two companies that were awarded $1,769,625,000 in a dispute over an oil exploration and exploitation contract with the Republic of Ecuador to modify a stay of the decision, finding that the committee has no jurisdiction to modify the stay in relation to Ecuador's potential enforcement of a tax judgment issued in another court (Occidental Petroleum Corp., et al. v. The Republic of Ecuador, No. ARB/06/11, ICSID).

MILWAUKEE - The administration's decision to delay implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate does not provide a cash-only physicians group with standing, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Sept. 19 (Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc., and Robert T. McQueeney v. John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in his official capacity, No. 14-2123, 7th Cir.).

MILWAUKEE - The administration's decision to delay implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate does not provide a cash-only physicians group with standing, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Sept. 19 (Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc., and Robert T. McQueeney v. John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in his official capacity, No. 14-2123, 7th Cir.).

MILWAUKEE - The administration's decision to delay implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate does not provide a cash-only physicians group with standing, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Sept. 19 (Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc., and Robert T. McQueeney v. John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in his official capacity, No. 14-2123, 7th Cir.).

MILWAUKEE - A cash-only physicians group challenging the Internal Revenue Service's implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) faced repeated questioning during Sept. 16 oral arguments from a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel seemingly skeptical of its standing (Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc., and Robert T. McQueeney v. John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in his official capacity, No. 14-2123, 7th Cir.).

MILWAUKEE - A cash-only physicians group challenging the Internal Revenue Service's implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) faced repeated questioning during Sept. 16 oral arguments from a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel seemingly skeptical of its standing (Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc., and Robert T. McQueeney v. John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in his official capacity, No. 14-2123, 7th Cir.).

MILWAUKEE - A cash-only physicians group challenging the Internal Revenue Service's implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) faced repeated questioning during Sept. 16 oral arguments from a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel seemingly skeptical of its standing (Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc., and Robert T. McQueeney v. John Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in his official capacity, No. 14-2123, 7th Cir.).

FLINT, Mich. - A Michigan federal judge on Sept. 11 overruled objections to a magistrate judge's order that denied a motion to compel discovery and denied a motion to compel compliance with subpoenas that were filed by a Michigan man in his class complaint accusing his former employer of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to properly determine Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes payable at the time of his retirement (John B. Davidson, et al. v. Henkel Corporation, et al., No. 12-14103, E.D. Mich.; 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127152).

FLINT, Mich. - A Michigan federal judge on Sept. 11 overruled objections to a magistrate judge's order that denied a motion to compel discovery and denied a motion to compel compliance with subpoenas that were filed by a Michigan man in his class complaint accusing his former employer of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to properly determine Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes payable at the time of his retirement (John B. Davidson, et al. v. Henkel Corporation, et al., No. 12-14103, E.D. Mich.; 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127152).

AUSTIN, Texas - A tax levied on small tobacco companies that did not participate in the 1998 settlement of a deceptive advertising action brought against four major tobacco companies is unconstitutional, the Third District Texas Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 15 (Susan Combs, et al. v. Texas Small Tobacco Coalition, et al., No. 03-13-00753-CV, Texas App., 3rd Dist.).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., Inc. filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other federal agencies in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Aug. 14, alleging that the government fails to account for cigarettes sold illegally by unlicensed manufacturers, including Native American manufacturers, when assessing taxes against the tobacco industry under the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act (FETRA) (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al. v. United States Department of Agriculture, et al., No. 14-cv-01388-KBJ, D. D.C.).

DENVER - A lay witness did not exceed the scope of Federal Rule of Evidence 701 in a tax fraud trial, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found July 28, affirming a lower court's conviction and rejecting the appellant's challenge of the witness's testimony (United States of America v. Curtis L. Morris, No. 12-1474, 10th Cir.; 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 14292).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits are available only for individuals who enrolled through state exchanges and not the federal exchange, a District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel majority held July 22. The dissent argued that the suit is a "not-so-veiled attempt to gut" the ACA (Jacqueline Halbig, et al. v. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, et al., No. 14-5018, D.C. Cir.).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits are available only for individuals who enrolled through state exchanges and not the federal exchange, a District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel majority held July 22. The dissent argued that the suit is a "not-so-veiled attempt to gut" the ACA (Jacqueline Halbig, et al. v. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, et al., No. 14-5018, D.C. Cir.).

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on July 9 dismissed an appeal of a consumer class action alleging a state unfair competition law (UCL) violation against a wireless phone company for failing to disclose the amount of taxes charged for phones, remanding the case in light of the court's recent decision in a similar case finding that California's tax code provides the sole remedy for consumers who believe that a retailer improperly charged taxes, according to a court docket entry (Richard A. Yabsley v. Cingular Wireless, LLC, et al., No. S176146, Calif. Sup.).